Rafael van der Vaart, the Dutch master of playing "in between the lines" as he calls it, is a prime mover in the renaissance under Harry Redknapp that has Tottenham arriving at Manchester City on Sunday five points behind the leaders. Win against Sheikh Mansour's £450m investment and Redknapp's white wave will make a statement that could still reverberate in May when the most open Premier League in memory is decided.

"Everything depends on this game," says Van der Vaart. "If we can win there everything is really open and the title can happen. If you lose it's eight points and that's a lot. We have to play game for game, try to win our games and then we will see what happens. We have to win. We cannot play for a draw."

Spurs's serious charge at a first title since 1961 comes after an opening-day defeat by Manchester United, who are second and play at Arsenal on Sunday, and a 5-1 hammering at White Hart Lane by Roberto Mancini's men in the following game. Beaten only once in the league since, Tottenham's run stands at 14 wins from 21 games and Van der Vaart shrugs off the stutter of a home draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers last week that stopped Redknapp's team from drawing alongside United.

"People say it wasn't the best performance but I think they had one chance and it went in," the 28-year-old says. "We were attacking, attacking and it also says something about Tottenham – that we're getting better and better – that teams come to White Hart Lane to defend."

Van der Vaart has been bamboozling defences since his arrival from Real Madrid on the closing day of the 2010 summer transfer window. But did he really think then that Spurs could challenge?

"I always felt we'd be in the top five. I saw the Tottenham players when I was in Madrid," he says. "Great players like Niko Kranjcar, [Giovani] Dos Santos, good defenders, were not playing. We played for the first time in the Champions League [last season]. It was a great experience. Now we are much better."

Van der Vaart has seven goals in 19 league outings this season to follow his 13 last term in an overall count of 23 in 57 appearances. Of his ability to drift into that area of uncertainty between midfield and defence to hurt opponents, he says: "I think the space is there. For me this fits good because we want to play with a buildup.

"Some games there's no space, other games there's space – the Premier League is harder [than La Liga]. The pace of the game is harder. The way the teams play: in Spain it's more about football, more skills. Teams like Stoke and Blackburn are hard and strong, with a lot of long balls and you have to get used to it."

Van der Vaart had a brief spell under José Mourinho at Madrid before the move to London and he grins when asked if there was a culture shock when switching from the Special One's forensic approach to Redknapp's more instinctive style.

"You could say that. I only worked with Mourinho for one month and what I saw was that he was a great manager, technical," Van der Vaart says. "The first thing he said was, 'You guys listen to me and you'll win every game …' I had a great time there but it was a relief to come here. Doing this press conference here in the little room, it's a warm feeling. I feel really good here."

As a man who played in Holland's losing 2010 World Cup final against Spain and in el clásico for Madrid, Van der Vaart relishes a big match and he is looking forward to the game with City. "Yes, of course. I love to play big games, it makes you a bigger player. I think it's the biggest game at this moment. It's going to be great for everyone to watch – the gap is five points. I think we have to win to keep the league a little bit closer."

What of that 5-1 defeat by City? "They played fantastic. I think we are much stronger now than in that game," he says of a team who have since added Scott Parker and Emmanuel Adebayor. "Scott runs over the pitch challenging people and he can play as well and that's the main thing: in our game we need somebody in that position who also can play good football.

"Adebayor is amazing. He's strong and experienced – you can see he played for big clubs. He scores goals, he gives assists. And if somebody is not on form Jermain Defoe comes in."

Or ineligible as the Togolese is due to the terms of his loan from City, meaning Defoe will partner Van der Vaart. "We can play really good together and especially when we play good buildup to try to play between the lines – then we have a good chance to win and to score goals," he says of the 29-year-old Defoe.

Regarding Gareth Bale, potentially the stellar talent in a side who also include Luka Modric, Aaron Lennon and Ledley King, Van der Vaart adds: "He is really good, he's strong, his body is amazing, it's like a machine. And the next step is maybe a bigger club. But for him it's good to stay here a few years because he is still young and when you leave early to another club, country, it's difficult. So I hope he's going to stay much longer in England but his class is fantastic."